For Newcastle man Ben Homer, live sport is more than mere Sunday afternoon viewing – it’s his passion and career.
If you don’t know his name, you have probably heard Ben Homer’s voice while watching your favourite team on Fox Sports Australia.
Since 2016, the 24-year-old from New Lambton has been making waves as a commentator at Fox, primarily calling games for football’s A-League and W-League codes.
He has been in the studio during pivotal moments, providing the voice-over to local sporting history such as former Olympian Usain Bolt’s first goal for the Central Coast Mariners.
“The Jamaican Juggernaut scores his first goal for a professional side! And that will feel like gold!” Homer’s deep voice rose with excitement, engaging fans in the October 2018 spectacle.
But Homer considers his work commentating the Australian women’s football team, the Matildas, as his biggest career highlight to date.
He was in the Fox Sydney studio at 2am to call the Matildas’ pre-Tokyo friendly matches held in Denmark in June this year.
“That was really special because the Matildas are one of the most loved sporting teams in Australia, if not number one, so to be able to work on that and be a small part of that moment has been really really special,” he said.
Broadcasting is a competitive industry and success doesn’t come easily.
Homer’s path to success began in high school when he began work experience with ABC Newcastle.
He still works at ABC 1233, producing Craig Hamilton’s Saturday breakfast radio show and preparing news and topics of interest.
“I do like that side of things because it ensures that I’m more well-rounded and it means I have more strings to my bow rather than just focusing on sport,” Homer said.
While completing school at Merewether High, he volunteered at the Special Olympics, held in Newcastle in 2013.
In 2014, he volunteered at the International Children’s Games in Lake Macquarie, commentating a live stream of the event, which garnered attention from Northern NSW Football and launched his football commentary career in 2015.
Homer has also been involved with local organisations Bar TV, Oasis Media and the Hunter Football Podcast, building his resume and balancing it all with part-time work at ABC and full-time study at the University of Newcastle.
He completed a combined Bachelor of Communication and Bachelor of Laws in 2020.
Homer feels the secret to his success has been hard work and lots of practice.
“I was actually listening today to a game from a few years ago from when I had just started, and, to be honest, it was absolutely terrible,” he said.
“I think the main thing is, and for anyone who’s starting out, it’s all about practice. Every little bit you do, there’s some little thing you’ll notice you need to fix up to ensure you’re sounding more professional or coherent.”
He said it has been a challenge to override the Australian way of speaking to fully enunciate words without abbreviation.
“You’re constantly working on it; it’s a constant challenge for Australian broadcasters.”
Outside of work, Homer is an avid sportsman, describing himself as more of an early bird than a party animal.
“Going to Parkrun and catching up with everyone, or rowing club or my cycling group, I really enjoy that,” he said.
“I know people exercise because they want to compete and do well, which I do with my rowing, but the primary reason why I exercise is that I love hanging out with the people in those communities.”
Homer has been a member of Newcastle Rowing Club since 2012, taking out the Men’s B Grade Double Scull at the Edward Trickett NSW Grade Championships in April.
The club is currently shut due to COVID, but Homer said he was grateful to be able to continue his hobbies independently.
With all levels of sport impacted by the pandemic, Homer lost some work from disruptions to the A-League and NSW Cup rugby league, but feels lucky to have had windows of opportunity between lockdowns.
Earlier this year, it was announced Channel 10 and the US-owned Paramount+ streaming service had won the $200 million rights to broadcast the A-League over the next five years, beating out Fox.
The new season is tentatively slated to begin in October.
“We are sort of waiting to see what happens [at Fox] in terms of work,” Homer said. “That’s where it’s at right now, but it was a lot of fun.”
Whatever happens with Fox Sports, it is clear Homer’s voice is going places.
He said his ultimate dream would be to call the Women’s World Cup in Australia or any sport at the Olympics one day.
The Hunter will surely be behind him when he does.
Lauren Freemantle